Saudi Arabia and Iran have executed more than 350 people in the first half of 2016

Saudi Arabia executed 108 people in the first six months of 2016, placing it on track to match the 158 executions it carried out in 2015, human rights groups have said.

A report by Iran Human Rights (IHR) also found that Iran has carried out at least 250 executions in this time, putting it second only to China.

As the below chart by Statista shows, the number of executions in 2015 worldwide hit the highest yearly number since 2009.

This is despite the fact that in 2012 the UN General Assembly called on countries to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

The aim was to reduce the practice with the view toward its eventual abolition.

Nearly half the people executed by Saudi Arabia this year were killed on 2 January, when 47 people were put to death after being convicted of terrorist offences.

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